Philipp Herkelmann’s Post

🚀 Europe needs one startup regime — not 27. That's why I’m supporting EU INC / the 28th Regime, a powerful initiative led by Philipp Herkelmann and others to make founding and scaling a company in Europe as easy as in the U.S. The vision: • One pan-European legal entity • One central EU registry • Standardized investment docs and EU-wide stock options • Respect for local taxes & employment • Access for every founder, from Lisbon to Tallinn Today, building across borders means navigating 27 sets of laws, stock option rules, and investor frameworks. That’s friction Europe can’t afford if we want to compete globally. Let’s make the 28th Regime with the EU–INC proposal real — for one European startup market, one legal foundation, and one innovation ecosystem. 💡 Find more infos here:

🇪🇺 Europe has the talent, ambition, and ecosystems to create generation-defining companies, but fragmentation still holds us back. That’s why we support EU–INC, a proposal for one pan-European legal entity, a central EU registry, standardized investment documents and stock options, while respecting local taxes and employment. We’re already working with Brussels to help make this a reality, in collaboration with Europe’s top startup legal teams, funds, and founders. 💪 Read more about the proposal here: https://www.eu-inc.org/

I took it for granted in the US that formation of an entity required only a few hundred dollars, a registered agent, quick LLC filing and not much else in the way of time and resources. Of course in the EU (speaking generally) I realized this is not as often the experience. The barrier to entry to form an entity is still persistent; the speed to which one can begin to take on funding, make hires, record expenses, etc can be truncated. Objectively, it is easier for many people to form a US or UK entity as a way to get started. This is so crucial right now at a time when velocity and momentum matter immensely. You can't just have an incredible vision as a founder; you also need to have an accountant, ample cash on hand, a few months to spare...it is an undertaking. Opportunities to be funded at ideation pre-product, pre-revenue can be less accessible as a result. Finally, the entities lacking unification and being country/region specific can be prohibitive in terms of scaling to EU market as a whole in some cases. Its not impossible, but the hurdle exists. I suspect the EU would likely be a larger credible market if, from day zero, founders could practicably build and innovate for an ecosystem that was more accessible and less divided. Thank you to Gianmarco Carnovale for continuing to champion this topic with great attention to and care for future founders!

Europe is taking a bold step forward. EU–INC — now on the table of the European Commission — proposes the creation of a new pan-European legal entity designed to unlock the full potential of our innovation ecosystem. The goal is simple but transformative: make it as easy to build and scale a company across the EU as within a single country. One EU company registry. Standardized investment documents. Stock options valid across all Member States. Local tax and labor laws respected — but without 27 different systems to navigate. The European Commission is expected to put forward the legislative proposal in Q1 2026, with implementation targeted for 2027. This initiative could redefine how startups and investors operate in Europe — finally turning the Single Market into a true platform for innovation. #EUINC #Innovation #Europe #TechPolicy #SingleMarket #ScaleUp #DigitalEurope #StartupEcosystem L. Emil Abirascid

Absolutely agree. #Europe doesn’t need another #digital #patch — it needs one coherent company law, not another symbolic layer. Founders can’t build globally from 27 fragmented regimes. EU–INC

Europe doesn’t have a talent problem. It has a growth capital problem. I recently discussed this at the Sifted Summit together with Anne Germain (BPI France), Christine Hockley (British Business Bank), and Morgan Kessous (Revaia). We covered everything from what it will take to close Europe’s growth funding gap, how we can best support home-grown innovation, and why Europeans aren’t benefitting enough from local tech successes. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: since 2015, Europe has been short roughly $300B in growth funding compared to the US. The result? Many of our best startups either sell early or go abroad to seek funding. And yet, we have all the ingredients for global leadership: 4 of the world’s top 10 universities More scientific publications than the US A deep bench of technical founders What we don’t have is enough European money backing European innovation. If just 1% of European pension capital were allocated to venture and growth funds, we could transform the landscape - funding not just the top 1% of startups, but the top 10%. Deeptech makes this especially urgent. These companies take longer to commercialise, but they’re building the technologies that will define the next decades and transform everything from energy systems to healthcare and industrial productivity. Public-private coordination is starting to move in the right direction (Germany’s WIN initiative is one example). But we need more: more boldness, more alignment, and more long-term thinking. If Europe wants to compete globally, we have to stop exporting our upside and start compounding it at home. Thanks to Amy Lewin and Sifted for hosting a brilliant conversation.

The EU is finally talking about building Startup Europe Inc. The Commission just announced plans for a unified startup legal framework — a single regime that could replace the 27 different systems we currently stumble through when making our investments in the EU. It’s an idea people like Andrea Klinger have been pushing for years: Europe can’t compete globally if founders need a law degree just to expand from Berlin to Paris. A proper “Europe Inc.” could finally make scaling across the continent feel like scaling across one market — not 27. At Carbon13, we’ve feel both the pain and see the potential. We’ve made 90+ climate tech investments across five European jurisdictions, and every round teaches us the same thing: Europe’s fragmentation is killing momentum, but also hiding massive opportunity if we can fix it. A unified setup won’t solve everything — execution will matter more than announcements. It needs to simplify cross-border equity, stock options, and IP, without flattening what’s already working in places like the Nordics or the Baltics. Still, this is the first serious sign that Brussels understands startups aren’t just another “sector” — they are Europe’s growth engine. Together we can decarbonise our grid, bring down energy costs and build a better economy! Let’s get building in Europe!

13,000 founders and investors screamed for change. Brussels heard them—then picked up the pen to kill it. After the “leak,” thousands of entrepreneurs flooded inboxes of eurocrats explaining one simple thing: the 28th regime only works if it’s one Pan-European entity — one digital register, one law for shares, options, and convertibles. The industry literally did the homework. The EU just had to copy-paste. Instead, they’re about to turn the blueprint into bureaucracy. They’re giving a Directive, not a Regulation. Translation: 27 different versions of the same nightmare. No unified rules, no single market for startups, just another Frankenstein of national tweaks and legal “interpretations.” European startups don’t need more paper. We need one rulebook. One system. One Europe that actually acts like one. Innovation doesn’t die from bad ideas. It dies from good ideas overregulated to death. Stop protecting us from progress.

A big step forward for a Europe that innovates and simplifies. The European Commission will introduce the 28th regime – EU INC early next year: a new framework to make it easier, clearer, and more consistent to start and run a business across the Union. 🚀 Less bureaucracy. More harmonization. New opportunities for founders ready to scale beyond borders. Because a Europe that speaks with one voice to its entrepreneurs is a Europe that is stronger, more competitive, and closer to business! #EUINC #Europe #Innovation #VentureCapital #ITW

🚨 Breaking news: The President of the Czech Republic has signed the country’s first-ever effective stock option policy into law, coming into force on 1 January 2026. This landmark reform will make it easier for Czech startups to attract and retain top talent, bringing the ecosystem closer to international best practice. It’s the result of years of hard work by the Czech startup community. We’re proud that Not Optional has been able to play a part in these efforts. We will update our country rankings (https://lnkd.in/dd6pPaUN) in the coming weeks. 🙏 Lukáš Konečný, Vit Horky, Martin Jiránek, Barbora Werdmölder, Radek Špicar, Martin Svalbach, Marketa Prenosilova, Petr Očko, Lukáš Vlček, Tomas Ditrych Stefan Surina, Vojta Rocek, Isaiah Baril-Dore, Dominic Jacquesson MBE, Vojtech Horna, Jan Hammer Go 🇨🇿 #notoptional #esopasap